The invention relates to an operator control apparatus for a domestic appliance, comprising a carrier plate on which an operator control element for setting operating conditions of the domestic appliance is arranged in a rotatable manner. The operator control element has a front cap comprising at least one transparent region. Furthermore, the operator control apparatus comprises at least one light guide which extends into the front cap and with which the light from a light source of the operator control apparatus can be guided to the transparent region. Furthermore, the invention also relates to a domestic appliance comprising an operator control apparatus of this kind, and to a method for operating an operator control apparatus.
Operator control apparatuses for domestic appliances are known in a variety embodiments. A specification can be seen in the fact that manually rotatable operator control elements are provided, which are also referred to as operating toggles or rotary knobs. Such operator control elements have a cylindrical front cap which also forms the anterior and circumferential end of the operator control element. This front cap can then be accessed by a user in order to rotate the operator control element.
If these operator control elements also have transparent regions, a specific illumination of these transparent regions can take place using light which is guided to the front cap by means of a light guide. In this way, for example, rotational positions and/or information about operating condition settings can be made visually recognizable, in particular, made visually recognizable on the operator control element and thus also on the front cap itself.
Operator control elements are known in the context, in which the light guide leads into this front cap and is fastened therein in an embedded manner such that a corresponding mounting takes place. As a result, however, the local light emission is restricted and the illumination scenario reduced.